Foreword

Urbanisation is a global megatrend. It is estimated that an additional 1.5 billion people will live in cities by 2050. This will inevitably increase demand for public services, and, in turn, land equipped with the appropriate supporting infrastructure. At the same time, cities are also confronted with challenges to become climate-neutral and reduce their environmental footprints, which will also require investment in public transport, sustainable water supplies, renewable energy, among other items, together with the need to provide green open spaces for the well-being of citizens.

Whilst the private sector has a role to play in these transitions, public investment will also be critical, and governments will need to identify funding sources to meet these challenges. Land value capture comprises a set of fiscal instruments that allows public projects to be funded by uplifts in land values generated by public action. However, despite its promise, land value capture is not utilised to its full potential in many cases, in part due to a lack of knowledge on good practices and a common conceptual framework.

This Compendium aims to address these gaps by bringing together land value capture practices of 60 countries across the globe, providing analyses and examples of the application of these tools across a variety of settings. The Compendium also provides a common taxonomy of land value capture instruments that facilitates cross-country comparisons. It reveals trends and common obstacles based on unique survey data across countries. It includes detailed accounts of the enabling environment, legal frameworks and the practical application of individual land value capture instruments in each country. The Compendium aims to be a guide for policymakers seeking to learn from good practices and effectively implement land value capture, and opens up new inquiries for future research.

This report was carried out as part of the OECD’s Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC) Programme of Work. The RDPC provides a unique forum for international exchange and debate on regional economies, policies and governance. The report was discussed at the 46th session of the RDPC on 12 May 2022. The report was approved by the RDPC [CFE/RDPC/URB(2022)3] via written procedure on 1 June 2022.